Johnstone/Paisley Scotland to Omagh, Northern Ireland

(Historical post from Mom--things I didn't know about Northern Ireland and Elder Penman's new area Omagh)

Shows Johnstone/Paisley area (A) to Omagh, Northern Ireland (B)

Omagh (/ˈoʊmə/ or /ˈoʊmɑː/; Irish pronunciation: [ˈomæ]– from Irish: an Ómaigh, meaning "the virgin plain" is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. Northern Ireland's capital city Belfast sits 68 miles (109.5 km) to the east of Omagh, and its second city Derry/Londonderry sits 34 miles (55 km) to the north. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omagh)

Omagh Coat of Arms

Omagh, Northern Ireland (from Internet)

The River Strule Omagh, Northern Ireland (from Internet)

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, or region of the United Kingdom, amongst other terms. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland is largely self-governing. According to the agreement, Northern Ireland co-operates with the Republic of Ireland on some policy areas, while other areas are reserved for the British Government, though the Republic of Ireland "may put forward views and proposals" with "determined efforts to resolve disagreements between [the two governments]".

Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament. Unlike Southern Ireland, which would become the Irish Free State in 1922, the majority of Northern Ireland's population were unionists or loyalists, who wanted to remain within the United Kingdom. Most of these were the Protestant descendants of colonists from Great Britain; however, a significant minority, mostly Catholics, were nationalists or republicans who wanted a united Ireland independent of British rule. Today, the former generally see themselves as British and the latter generally see themselves as Irish; some people from both communities describe themselves as Northern Irish. Historically, Northern Ireland was marked by discrimination and hostility between these two communities in what Nobel Peace Prize-winner David Trimble called a "cold house" for Catholics. In the late 1960s, conflict between the two communities, and involving state forces, erupted into three decades of violence known as the Troubles, which claimed over 3,000 lives and caused over 50,000 casualties. The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 was a major step in the peace process although sectarianism and religious segregation still remain major social problems.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland)